Pressure transmitters are routinely used in industrial processes and other systems to capture pressure measurements. For Health, Safety, and Environmental (HS&E) purposes, it is often a requirement that a pressure transmitter meter body be flame-proof (also known as explosion-proof or “Ex d”). An energized device such as a pressure transmitter meter body is considered to be flame-proof when the device can both (i) contain the pressure generated by an explosive gas mixture being ignited within the device itself and (ii) prevent an explosion flame front from escaping the device. The ability to contain the pressure generated by an explosion and the ability to prevent the flame front from leaving the device help to ensure that no explosive gas mixture outside the device would be ignited. This can be particularly important in industrial processes or other systems where an explosive gas mixture may exist in the ambient environment surrounding the device, such as in an oil and gas refinery.
Pressure containment can normally be achieved by the construction of pressure transmitter meter bodies themselves, which are designed to contain pressure as part of their normal operation in measuring pressure. One conventional technique for containing flame fronts is to attenuate the thermal energy in a flame prior to the flame front being able to leave the device, thereby extinguishing the flame and preventing any external explosive gas mixtures from igniting. For example, some conventional pressure sensors utilize special add-on components called “flame arrestors” to contain flame fronts. However, the flame arrestors occupy valuable space within a pressure sensor and often require machining of special features to hold the flame arrestors, which increases manufacturing and assembly costs.